Brassica oleracea, var capitata, the first cultivated vegetable in the diverse genus Brassica, is the ancestor of most of its numerous relations such as cauliflower and Brussels sprouts.
The original wild plant, known as wild or sea cabbage, still grows in some coastal areas of Europe, is occasionally gathered and eaten, and has a cabbagy flavour. However, it is a spindly plant with few leaves and no ‘head’. Indeed, it is more like kale, another of its descendants. Other wild brassicas grow around the eastern end of the Mediterranean and in the Balearic Isles. These and the wild ancestors of our mustard plants were no doubt interbred with wild cabbage during the early stages of its cultivation.
Cabbage has been highly valued as a food since the time of the ancient Egyptians. From surviving pictures and reliefs it is clear that Egyptian cabbage was headless. The Greeks, too, cultivated headless cabbages and invested them with a religious significance. They ascribed the origin of cabbage to the chief of the gods, Zeus, believing that when he was earnestly trying to explain two conflicting prophecies, he worked himself into a sweat and that from this sweat sprang cabbage. There may be some connection here with the strong smell of cooking cabbage.
Both the Greeks and the Romans thought cabbage a very healthy food, which it is; and a protection against drunkenness, which it is not. A Greek proverb states roundly: ‘Cabbage served twice is death.’ This sounds sinister but seems to have reflected no more than a dislike of leftovers on the part of people who knew nothing of bubble and squeak. The saying was used to disparage anything stale or secondhand.
At some time in the 1st century bc the first headed cabbages appeared. The head, an enlarged terminal bud, was at first a small one at the top of a long stem, but Pliny the Elder in the 1st century ad was already writing of a head 30 cm (12″) in diameter. He probably knew of this only by hearsay, since the new, headed cabbage is now thought to have evolved in N. Europe, where it later developed into the hard, white ‘Dutch’ or ‘drumhead’ varieties. But it was not until well into the Middle Ages that headed cabbages spread throughout Europe to supplement the staple ‘colewort’ or kale.
Cabbage arrived in N. America in 1541, on the occasion of the third voyage of Jacques Cartier, but the first written record of its being planted in what is now the USA is dated 1669. The immigrant cabbages came mainly from Germany and the Low Countries, no doubt because German settlers were anxious to make sauerkraut. However, boiled cabbage was established at an early date as a traditional dish in New England, where British connections were dominant.
The categorization and nomenclature of brassicas have been difficult, and rival systems have found favour at different times. Attempts in the 20th century to introduce order into what is essentially an unruly scene have involved the creation of what are called Groups. By this device, reflected in some of the names below, a main variety of a species can be subdivided at a level higher than that of commercial cultivars.
When new varieties began to be developed, one of the earliest, in the 16th century, was the red cabbage, now classified as B. oleracea var capitata, Rubra group. It was followed by many types of loose-leafed cabbage, light or dark green and sometimes tinged with red or purple. The increasing number of varieties made it possible to extend the growing season from the first spring greens, picked before a head has formed, to winter's end.
The cabbage which is generally rated the best as a cooked vegetable, the Savoy cabbage, has wrinkled leaves and a loose head. It was a variety separately developed in Italy and probably descended from the old Roman types. It is now classified as var capitata, Subanda group.
The most suitable cabbage for sauerkraut is a hard white cabbage, var capitata, Capitata group. The same cabbage is also used for coleslaw. See also kimch'i.
One curious survivor from the early days of headed cabbages is the enormously tall Jersey or walking stick cabbage, whose stem is as high as a man and has been recorded as reaching 5 m (16′).
Two other types of cabbage stand outside the main line. One is Portugal or Braganza (or Galician) cabbage, also called by its Portuguese name, couve tronchuda. This variety, developed well before the 17th century, has no proper head but instead wide, spreading leaves with very thick midribs. It looks rather like seakale, and its ribs may be cooked in the same way. The other outsider is the Kerguelen cabbage, a botanical oddity. It grows only on the Antarctic islands of Kerguelen and Heard, and could not possibly be related to any European cabbage. Yet it closely resembles an ordinary leafy cabbage. It is classified in a separate genus as Pringlea antiscorbutica.
Chinese cabbages do not belong to the same species as European brassicas and are treated separately.
The name ‘cabbage’ is applied to a few other plants of quite different kinds, such as the ‘palm cabbage’ (see palm).
The smell of cooking cabbage, which few people like, comes from various sulphur compounds. All vegetables contain and give off substances of this type, but those in cabbage (and some related brassicas) are usually copious and pungent. In particular, cabbage contains a moderate quantity of ‘mustard oils’ (isothiocyanates), which are what give mustard, horseradish, and onions their characteristic ‘bite’. The taste is quite noticeable in the raw leaves.
One way of reducing the sulphurous smell is to stir-fry cabbage sliced into thin strips in the Chinese manner. The coating of hot oil seals the surface and reduces the emanation. For the same reason more flavour is retained, while the texture is appetizingly crisp.
Red cabbage presents a special problem. If exposed to even slightly alkaline conditions it loses its red colour, going progressively mauve and slate blue or, when cooked, dirty green. Hard water is often alkaline enough to discolour its sensitive anthocyanin pigments. All traditional recipes for red cabbage therefore include acid fruit, vinegar, or wine, additions which not only preserve the colour, but also improve the flavour. Red cabbage pickles well, and is popular in this form in Britain.
Alan Davidson was a distinguished author and publisher, and one of the world's best-known writers on fish and fish cookery. In 1975 he retired early from the diplomatic service—after serving in, among other places, Washington, Egypt, Tunisia, and Laos, where he was British Ambassador—to pursue a fruitful second career as a food historian and food writer extraordinaire. Among his popular books are Seafood of South-East Asia, North Atlantic Seafood, and Mediterranean Seafood. In 2003, shortly before his death, he was awarded the Erasmus Prize for his contribution to European culture.
